The Business Books NJ Executives are Reading, and the Lessons they are Learning

The Edge for JuNE 2019

It’s reading season, so for the third consecutive year, we asked business executives to share with us the books that have motivated and inspired them, along with the lessons they gained. The lessons they shared include be empathetic; invest in employees; identify something you are best at; and remember that bad execution undermines great planning. Here is what they said:
 

Change is Always Good

Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game by Michael Lewis focuses on the Oakland Athletics baseball team and its general manager Billy Beane, who used an analytical, “sabermetric” approach to assembling a competitive team despite the Athletic’s small budget. The central premise of Moneyball is that the collective wisdom of baseball insiders over the past century is subjective and often flawed. Moneyball’s lessons about challenging ‘the way it has always been done’, problem solving and managing change are relevant for businesses of all sizes, but especially for an organization like ours that has been around for almost as long as professional baseball. The message that stuck with me is no matter how successful you are, change is always good. There can never be a status quo. You always have to be upgrading.

– Don Meyer, Chief Marketing Officer, New Jersey Society of Certified Public Accountants

Walk in Other People’s Shoes

How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie is one of my favorite books. It explores the power of relationships and human connectivity, and their correlation to success. Carnegie argues that many people possess great technical skills, but highly successful people separate themselves with high EQ (emotional intelligence). Taking the time to walk in other people’s shoes and find empathy and points of connectivity helps us better understand one another. At UnitedHealthcare, we aim to walk in the shoes of the people we serve and those with whom we work. The notions Carnegie puts forward are especially true for us in serving people in an area so vitally human as their health.

– Paul Marden, CEO, UnitedHealthcare of New Jersey

Study Why Ideas Work

The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference by Malcolm Gladwell plays a pivotal role in my approach to business. Using case studies, Gladwell demonstrates why ideas and actions catch on and spread. The book explores how different people react to different situations and confirms that human behavior cannot be guaranteed. When I believe a business idea will resonate, I think of The Tipping Point and explore whether there is a precedent for my thinking and whether my presumptions are accurate.

– Dennis Wilson, President and CEO, Delta Dental New Jersey

Break Stereotypes

I am currently reading Girl, Wash Your Face by Rachel Hollis. It is a fun, motivational read. It's nice to get a female entrepreneur's perspective on how she juggles many things including running a business and spending time with her husband and four kids. The structure of the books is unique. Each chapter explores a misconception, a stereotype or even self-beliefs by women themselves that keep women from advancing in their careers. At the end of each chapter, Hollis provides suggestions on how women can change the way they think and break stereotypes.

The Dale Carnegie Training Newsletter that I receive in my email inbox every Friday has been extremely helpful and enlightening. It's a quick read that provides tips and suggestions for managers. While there are some techniques that I've learned and implemented over the years, this newsletter reinforces some of those ideas, while also offering new ones.

– Laura Hahn, Director-Government Relations, New Jersey Chamber of Commerce

Thinking and Planning are Useless without Execution

It is a challenge to select a single “best” book. Often just one idea from a book can be priceless. Let’s start with Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. Written in 1937, the concepts are timeless. It stresses the value of ‘single-mindedness of purpose.’ Hill speaks of limitations that are more often self-established than environmental and more imagined than real. To bookend the spectrum, I feel great clarity when I read The Excellence Dividend by Tom Peters. My very first business book was Peters’s In Search of Excellence. As I have aged, so has my appreciation of Peters’s wisdom. His insights on the importance of investing in the development of employees is unarguable. To complete the circle, Peters builds on the essence of Hill’s book by noting that thinking and planning are vital, but are of limited value without excellence in execution.

– Michael J. Smith, President, Berkeley College

Reinvent Yourself, and Don’t Look Back

Six months after I assumed the role of market president for AmeriHealth New Jersey, I came across an article that had a meaningful impact on my leadership style: A Dozen Lessons about Business and Life from Jimmy Iovine. It features insight into the mindset of the world-famous record producer and entrepreneur. The idea that you can reinvent yourself, not look in the rearview mirror and stay focused on the future spoke to me as I embarked on a new path in my career during a time that we were navigating much change in our industry. Iovine’s dedication to ‘being of service’ influenced my decision to roll out a companywide campaign asking associates to enhance engagement with the people and communities we serve. The following year, 75 percent of our associates volunteered in some capacity on behalf of our organization.

– Mike Munoz, Market President, AmeriHealth New Jersey

Identify Something You are Best At

When I became managing director of Gibbons P.C. in 2004, I relied on the book Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don't by Jim Collins as a blueprint for how to run the firm. Gibbons was always a solid law firm, but I wanted to lead Gibbons from good to great. The book identified key elements for achieving greatness, including:

• The placement of the right people in the right positions
• Leadership that combines resolve and humility, along with careful avoidance of radical change
• An entrepreneurial ethic arising from a culture of discipline
• An institutional focus on the sweet spot found at the intersection of your team’s passions, unparalleled strengths, and economic drivers.

Good to Great helped me identify something Gibbons could be “best” at – we could be the best full-service law firm headquartered in New Jersey. And I believe we’ve achieved that.

– Patrick C. Dunican Jr., Chairman and Managing Director, Gibbons P.C.